i was in....vancouver...
Though I'd post this now since it starts airing here on HD in like two weeks:
Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip (Pilot)
- Firstly, I just want to say that when this show debuted I remembered a LOT of LJers (particularly Stargate Atlantis fans, who also tend to be West Wing/Sports Night/Aaron Sorkin fans in general) were suddenly talking about it as if it were the best thing to ever happen to their TV sets. And then, just as quickly, it was completely forgotten about. Funny how that works how quickly shows get cancelled, ain't it.
- Speaking of, I just want to point out that the DVD set of this series is already out despite the fact this show was never screened on Australian TV (at least on free to air). Odd but not unusual.
- Before I press play: I am expecting this show to feature a lot of walk-and-talk. Because if there isn't it's not by Sorkin. This show has a very fun name to say. Try saying it out loud. It's fun.
- So this is a show about a TV show, right? It's like a more serious 30 Rock. Or should I be drawing Sports Night comparisons? Oh, Felicity Huffman is here tonight? Playing herself. Of course she is.
- HEY LOOK IT'S PAPA EPPES! "...you meticulous fatass", LMAO. I love his lines. That last shot though, you can't say he's not a good actor. That scene went on a little long though. These aren't our protagonists.
- That guy with the head mike? Jack's lawyer on Without A Trace. Two fandoms colliding in two minutes! I like this show.
- There's a monologue, a live band, Felicity Huffman doing jokes about Desperate Housewives, and a mock presidential address. lol it's Letterman. Or SNL.
- Wow. I kinda wish some TV producers really did have the guts to refer to an audience as lobotomized on live TV. I'm already seeing the reason why this got picked up (and maybe why it got cancelled).
- "Jordan". The country? Oh, Jordan the hot brunette. She's successful and concise. Oh, and hired! A female division pres, I like it. I love her dress.
- They did not seriously get Three Six Mafia to do a song about a show for it's pilot. That's neccessary.
- This is a lot more serious a show than I anticipated. Oh, wait. "There's like seven things funny about this." LOL. Nicely placed exposition. They're using the new-girl trick, but the new girl in this case is educated and taking charge. And she's going to hire our protagonists, I assume. Unless Jordan is our protag.
- Did he just threaten to fire her? Talk about unfair dismissal.
- "Matt and Danny". Oh, I get it! Multiple points of view! Smart. I'm going to pause for a moment to inform you all of my thoughts re: Matthew Perry. Never had an interest in "Friends" (it's a sitcom, see) but do like him muchly. However it will be interesting to see if he can pull off a serious role. I've never seen him do anything but comedy. I've seen him look scared of Bruce Willis but that's about it.
- Oh look, it's Bradley Whitford. Aaron Sorkin totally just flipped though his little black book for this show, didn't he? I'm half expecting to see Martin Sheen as an extra somewhere.
- "I'm on some medication right now that makes me not know where chairs are." LOL VICODIN. If you count that as a House crossover, we're up to three fandoms. He broke up with the blonde, yeah? Not Jordan? No, not Jordan, 'Harriet'.
- The Writer's Guild Awards. HA. "He's never not been there for me." Except now.
- "The Big Three". I'm not surprised the media gets a storyline in here. Harry's pretty, but I hope she's not a cookie-cutter ambitious reporter. Is she even a reporter? I'm a little confused. Maybe I should have paid attention to that exposition earlier, eh.
- That girl on the phone? Charlie from Heroes, who was also Cute Coat Check Girl from HIMYM and the lesbian patient with the black plague on House. So that's a solid five fandoms. Awesome.
- That TV is so superimposed. I guess Bradley Whitford is a major player in this? I love how he can't believe his luck that Jordan's there. "Jordan knows about the test." Ooh. Are we talking like a medical condition? Something serious? Chicken pox? "I haven't told Matt; Matt doesn't know." Ah, the slash. Lovely.
- This is quite a noiry shot here (Matt leaning on the car). "...a spotlight on a basket of dinner rolls" haha. LOL COCAINE? Wow, all my sympathy for that guy is gone. "Vancouver doesn't look like anything. It doesn't even look like Vancouver." LOLLL. They are quite passionately anti-shooting-in-Vancouver.
- Nice entrance Matthew Perry. Way to sum up what's happened in the ep so far...in one sentence. What's the point of Matt's back surgery? All alone in the studio. It's pretty. And then he takes the job. MP's putting in a decent performance so far.
- And of course he bumps into Harry. Nice mirror shot. So she sings spiritual music, eh. Oh, for a bigot. Everyone is quite unnaturally concise. I like the subtle zoom as they argue.
- Haha, it's three quarters of a car. Nothing happened, he just got hiiiiigh. Oh, he's a former addict. I apologize, that was mean. He should call his sponser. (Wasn't MP an addict at one point? I seem to remember he was an alcoholic?).
- Oh, wow, they're reusing the boys' old sketches. That's low. LOL Is that...Ice Ice Baby in the background there? I knew they'd keep Mr 53 Seconds. I'm not feeling particularly inspired though. Is this the end here? Yep.
Char's overall thoughts: I'm not really all that enthused about this show, to be honest. I think it would be interesting to see where it goes, sure, and I definately like the little statements this show has already made in the background (in regards to politics and the role of women etc). But overall this didn't really grab me and I can understand why it didn't grab a heap of other people either. It's one of those smart people shows, as Sorkin's shows tend to be, and which I don't mind; it's just a little too sombre. It could do with a bit of lightening or livening up.
Dexter 1x11: Was I the only one who's heart just like broke when Deb saw the yacht and it was all full of fairylights and he proposed and she said yes, knowing that he was about to CHOP HER INTO TINY PIECES? It just made me really sad! It's so tragic for her because they were good for each other. I understand he's meant to be an example of how now all serial killers are like Dexter - that some are capale of intimacy and almost complete assimilation - and thus he and Deb were going nowhere from the start, but he's just going to completely break Deb regardless of what happens to her now. She had trust issues to begin with and I assume she'll never really trust again after this. Ugh. Still an awesome show though. They went there!
Emmys: Can I just say I can't believe that every other year we get the Emmys telecast in full and this year they shaft it to midnight and only give us a highlights package because of the freaking Brownlow Medal. Doesn't the BM ceremony only consist of like four awards? So why does it take HOURS AND HOURS? (ETA: Apparentally the Brownlow has some kind of Eurovision-esque lengthy vote-count system. My bad.)
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series: Okay. So. I haven't seen (or actually even heard of) Breaking Bad, though it does sound very good and I know that underneath Bryan Cranston's comedy shtick he's a good actor. But he would have to be very, very, very, VERY good, like Academy-Award deserving good, on that show to be able to beat Hugh Laurie, Michael C Hall, and Gabriel Byrne as well as James Spader and His Emmy Farm. And I'm not so sure he is. Though he may be, idk. It's not like I've seen it!
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series: Glenn Close totally deserved this. She rocked the hell out of Patty Hewes. I have nothing else to say in regards to this. lol.
Outstanding Supporting Drama people: I bet they messed up Zeljko's name. I don't even know how to pronounce it for God's sake. I don't think he even knows. But he's so freaking creepy on Damages so he totez deserved it. I'm kind of sad he beat Ted Danson though, only because Damages is the show that's shown he can be more then just the guy from Cheers.
As for the girls: I'm really looking forward to seeing In Treatment. Everyone's going on about it.
Outstanding Lead Comedy people: I'm going to come out and say it: the Emmys seem to be a bit biased towards 30 Rock. I've been watching/enjoying 30 Rock for the last few months and it's good and all, but Alec Baldwin isn't exactly putting in the performance of his career on it. I'm just really sad that Steve lost to him again when Steve had some wonderful vaguely-dramatic storylines on The Office this season.
Also, am I the only one wondering how Pushing Daisies is classed as a comedy? I mean, from what I've heard, I wouldn't categorize it as one, though I guess it's not exactly a drama either. I wouldn't have minded so much if Steve had been beaten by Lee Pace!
As for the girls: undecided, though I had my bets on Mary-Louise Parker who's always fabulous. But otherwise it wasn't a hugely competetive category. I think all the actresses were pretty much on the same ground.
Outstanding Supporting Comedy people: I love me some Piven. He's such a doll. Am I sad he beat NPH? Not really. Entourage is good and he does good work on it and HIMYM is a sitcom. I don't...I'm rephrasing what I was about to type cause I don't want to offend the sitcom lovers on my f-list LOL. All I have to say is that I think laugh tracks are wonderful to cover acting flaws, and that everyone on sitcoms have to overact a little to get the laugh. And I don't think NPH is an exception to that, though he does play Barney, who seems to be miles away from the real NPH, perfectly.
I don't really know how I feel about Jean Smart winning. They pulled Samantha Who off air here pretty quickly lol. I do find it curious that Amy Poehler was nominated for playing "various characters" on SNL. That's interesting. How would you judge that? They would obviously have a multitude of different characters to choose from. Which do they judge? Also: Vanessa Williams? Really?
Everything else:
-I like that "House's Head" won for best directing (though I am pissed that everyone keeps pretending that the House S4 finale was about House when it was about WILSON DAMNIT, and that Hugh got the nom when RSL didn't....but I digress!).
-This Mad Men craziness is intriguing.
-The Probster won an Emmy! He's sexy. If Seacrest had won, would he have ended his speech with Seacrest Out? Did they have to get an alternate host for the American Top 40 on the radio?! Hey, why wasn't the dude from The Amazing Race nominated? That's just mean to exclude him like that. He has a v important job, standing on those world maps at the Pit Stops with the Stereotypical Country Representative. BOB AND BOBBINA, YOU ARE THE LAST TO ARRIVE...
Also today I went out (shocker!) and finally used the JB giftcard my brother got me for my birthday. I got HIMYM season 2, which may have one of the ugliest covers I've seen while also being kind of nice looking (mainly because Robin and Barney are looking at each other on the back cover), and Gavin DeGraw's new CD to celebrate the fact he's still alive and hitting on girls in bars. It amuses me greatly that "We Belong Together" is on it. That song was on the soundtrack for Tristan & Isolde. That movie came out over two years ago. Freaking took him a while, eh.
Now I really do have to go and work on my Heroes fic for ficfinishing. I'm behind! The point is not to be behind! I AM BEHIND THE POINT! (What?) Also if you're reading this please say hi. A lot of you guys seem to have disappeared lately! Steph? Noelle? Anyone? Bueller?
Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip (Pilot)
- Firstly, I just want to say that when this show debuted I remembered a LOT of LJers (particularly Stargate Atlantis fans, who also tend to be West Wing/Sports Night/Aaron Sorkin fans in general) were suddenly talking about it as if it were the best thing to ever happen to their TV sets. And then, just as quickly, it was completely forgotten about. Funny how that works how quickly shows get cancelled, ain't it.
- Speaking of, I just want to point out that the DVD set of this series is already out despite the fact this show was never screened on Australian TV (at least on free to air). Odd but not unusual.
- Before I press play: I am expecting this show to feature a lot of walk-and-talk. Because if there isn't it's not by Sorkin. This show has a very fun name to say. Try saying it out loud. It's fun.
- So this is a show about a TV show, right? It's like a more serious 30 Rock. Or should I be drawing Sports Night comparisons? Oh, Felicity Huffman is here tonight? Playing herself. Of course she is.
- HEY LOOK IT'S PAPA EPPES! "...you meticulous fatass", LMAO. I love his lines. That last shot though, you can't say he's not a good actor. That scene went on a little long though. These aren't our protagonists.
- That guy with the head mike? Jack's lawyer on Without A Trace. Two fandoms colliding in two minutes! I like this show.
- There's a monologue, a live band, Felicity Huffman doing jokes about Desperate Housewives, and a mock presidential address. lol it's Letterman. Or SNL.
- Wow. I kinda wish some TV producers really did have the guts to refer to an audience as lobotomized on live TV. I'm already seeing the reason why this got picked up (and maybe why it got cancelled).
- "Jordan". The country? Oh, Jordan the hot brunette. She's successful and concise. Oh, and hired! A female division pres, I like it. I love her dress.
- They did not seriously get Three Six Mafia to do a song about a show for it's pilot. That's neccessary.
- This is a lot more serious a show than I anticipated. Oh, wait. "There's like seven things funny about this." LOL. Nicely placed exposition. They're using the new-girl trick, but the new girl in this case is educated and taking charge. And she's going to hire our protagonists, I assume. Unless Jordan is our protag.
- Did he just threaten to fire her? Talk about unfair dismissal.
- "Matt and Danny". Oh, I get it! Multiple points of view! Smart. I'm going to pause for a moment to inform you all of my thoughts re: Matthew Perry. Never had an interest in "Friends" (it's a sitcom, see) but do like him muchly. However it will be interesting to see if he can pull off a serious role. I've never seen him do anything but comedy. I've seen him look scared of Bruce Willis but that's about it.
- Oh look, it's Bradley Whitford. Aaron Sorkin totally just flipped though his little black book for this show, didn't he? I'm half expecting to see Martin Sheen as an extra somewhere.
- "I'm on some medication right now that makes me not know where chairs are." LOL VICODIN. If you count that as a House crossover, we're up to three fandoms. He broke up with the blonde, yeah? Not Jordan? No, not Jordan, 'Harriet'.
- The Writer's Guild Awards. HA. "He's never not been there for me." Except now.
- "The Big Three". I'm not surprised the media gets a storyline in here. Harry's pretty, but I hope she's not a cookie-cutter ambitious reporter. Is she even a reporter? I'm a little confused. Maybe I should have paid attention to that exposition earlier, eh.
- That girl on the phone? Charlie from Heroes, who was also Cute Coat Check Girl from HIMYM and the lesbian patient with the black plague on House. So that's a solid five fandoms. Awesome.
- That TV is so superimposed. I guess Bradley Whitford is a major player in this? I love how he can't believe his luck that Jordan's there. "Jordan knows about the test." Ooh. Are we talking like a medical condition? Something serious? Chicken pox? "I haven't told Matt; Matt doesn't know." Ah, the slash. Lovely.
- This is quite a noiry shot here (Matt leaning on the car). "...a spotlight on a basket of dinner rolls" haha. LOL COCAINE? Wow, all my sympathy for that guy is gone. "Vancouver doesn't look like anything. It doesn't even look like Vancouver." LOLLL. They are quite passionately anti-shooting-in-Vancouver.
- Nice entrance Matthew Perry. Way to sum up what's happened in the ep so far...in one sentence. What's the point of Matt's back surgery? All alone in the studio. It's pretty. And then he takes the job. MP's putting in a decent performance so far.
- And of course he bumps into Harry. Nice mirror shot. So she sings spiritual music, eh. Oh, for a bigot. Everyone is quite unnaturally concise. I like the subtle zoom as they argue.
- Haha, it's three quarters of a car. Nothing happened, he just got hiiiiigh. Oh, he's a former addict. I apologize, that was mean. He should call his sponser. (Wasn't MP an addict at one point? I seem to remember he was an alcoholic?).
- Oh, wow, they're reusing the boys' old sketches. That's low. LOL Is that...Ice Ice Baby in the background there? I knew they'd keep Mr 53 Seconds. I'm not feeling particularly inspired though. Is this the end here? Yep.
Char's overall thoughts: I'm not really all that enthused about this show, to be honest. I think it would be interesting to see where it goes, sure, and I definately like the little statements this show has already made in the background (in regards to politics and the role of women etc). But overall this didn't really grab me and I can understand why it didn't grab a heap of other people either. It's one of those smart people shows, as Sorkin's shows tend to be, and which I don't mind; it's just a little too sombre. It could do with a bit of lightening or livening up.
Dexter 1x11: Was I the only one who's heart just like broke when Deb saw the yacht and it was all full of fairylights and he proposed and she said yes, knowing that he was about to CHOP HER INTO TINY PIECES? It just made me really sad! It's so tragic for her because they were good for each other. I understand he's meant to be an example of how now all serial killers are like Dexter - that some are capale of intimacy and almost complete assimilation - and thus he and Deb were going nowhere from the start, but he's just going to completely break Deb regardless of what happens to her now. She had trust issues to begin with and I assume she'll never really trust again after this. Ugh. Still an awesome show though. They went there!
Emmys: Can I just say I can't believe that every other year we get the Emmys telecast in full and this year they shaft it to midnight and only give us a highlights package because of the freaking Brownlow Medal. Doesn't the BM ceremony only consist of like four awards? So why does it take HOURS AND HOURS? (ETA: Apparentally the Brownlow has some kind of Eurovision-esque lengthy vote-count system. My bad.)
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series: Okay. So. I haven't seen (or actually even heard of) Breaking Bad, though it does sound very good and I know that underneath Bryan Cranston's comedy shtick he's a good actor. But he would have to be very, very, very, VERY good, like Academy-Award deserving good, on that show to be able to beat Hugh Laurie, Michael C Hall, and Gabriel Byrne as well as James Spader and His Emmy Farm. And I'm not so sure he is. Though he may be, idk. It's not like I've seen it!
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series: Glenn Close totally deserved this. She rocked the hell out of Patty Hewes. I have nothing else to say in regards to this. lol.
Outstanding Supporting Drama people: I bet they messed up Zeljko's name. I don't even know how to pronounce it for God's sake. I don't think he even knows. But he's so freaking creepy on Damages so he totez deserved it. I'm kind of sad he beat Ted Danson though, only because Damages is the show that's shown he can be more then just the guy from Cheers.
As for the girls: I'm really looking forward to seeing In Treatment. Everyone's going on about it.
Outstanding Lead Comedy people: I'm going to come out and say it: the Emmys seem to be a bit biased towards 30 Rock. I've been watching/enjoying 30 Rock for the last few months and it's good and all, but Alec Baldwin isn't exactly putting in the performance of his career on it. I'm just really sad that Steve lost to him again when Steve had some wonderful vaguely-dramatic storylines on The Office this season.
Also, am I the only one wondering how Pushing Daisies is classed as a comedy? I mean, from what I've heard, I wouldn't categorize it as one, though I guess it's not exactly a drama either. I wouldn't have minded so much if Steve had been beaten by Lee Pace!
As for the girls: undecided, though I had my bets on Mary-Louise Parker who's always fabulous. But otherwise it wasn't a hugely competetive category. I think all the actresses were pretty much on the same ground.
Outstanding Supporting Comedy people: I love me some Piven. He's such a doll. Am I sad he beat NPH? Not really. Entourage is good and he does good work on it and HIMYM is a sitcom. I don't...I'm rephrasing what I was about to type cause I don't want to offend the sitcom lovers on my f-list LOL. All I have to say is that I think laugh tracks are wonderful to cover acting flaws, and that everyone on sitcoms have to overact a little to get the laugh. And I don't think NPH is an exception to that, though he does play Barney, who seems to be miles away from the real NPH, perfectly.
I don't really know how I feel about Jean Smart winning. They pulled Samantha Who off air here pretty quickly lol. I do find it curious that Amy Poehler was nominated for playing "various characters" on SNL. That's interesting. How would you judge that? They would obviously have a multitude of different characters to choose from. Which do they judge? Also: Vanessa Williams? Really?
Everything else:
-I like that "House's Head" won for best directing (though I am pissed that everyone keeps pretending that the House S4 finale was about House when it was about WILSON DAMNIT, and that Hugh got the nom when RSL didn't....but I digress!).
-This Mad Men craziness is intriguing.
-The Probster won an Emmy! He's sexy. If Seacrest had won, would he have ended his speech with Seacrest Out? Did they have to get an alternate host for the American Top 40 on the radio?! Hey, why wasn't the dude from The Amazing Race nominated? That's just mean to exclude him like that. He has a v important job, standing on those world maps at the Pit Stops with the Stereotypical Country Representative. BOB AND BOBBINA, YOU ARE THE LAST TO ARRIVE...
Also today I went out (shocker!) and finally used the JB giftcard my brother got me for my birthday. I got HIMYM season 2, which may have one of the ugliest covers I've seen while also being kind of nice looking (mainly because Robin and Barney are looking at each other on the back cover), and Gavin DeGraw's new CD to celebrate the fact he's still alive and hitting on girls in bars. It amuses me greatly that "We Belong Together" is on it. That song was on the soundtrack for Tristan & Isolde. That movie came out over two years ago. Freaking took him a while, eh.
Now I really do have to go and work on my Heroes fic for ficfinishing. I'm behind! The point is not to be behind! I AM BEHIND THE POINT! (What?) Also if you're reading this please say hi. A lot of you guys seem to have disappeared lately! Steph? Noelle? Anyone? Bueller?